Bombay HC fixes private legal responsibility for pothole deaths, orders 6 lakh compensation

The Bombay High Court has directed civic our bodies and State businesses to pay ₹6 lakh compensation to households of victims who die as a result of pothole-related accidents, and between ₹50,000 and ₹2.5 lakh for accidents, relying on severity. A Division Bench of Justices Revati Mohite Dere and Sandesh D. Patil, in an order handed on October 13, additionally mounted private legal responsibility on senior officers for delays and revived a decade-old suo motu Public Interest Litigation beneath the precept of “persevering with mandamus” to observe compliance. 

The PIL originated in 2013 from a letter by Justice G.S. Patel to the Chief Justice, highlighting the “pathetic situation of roads” and fatalities brought on by potholes. Despite repeated instructions since 2015, the Bench famous, “nothing a lot has modified,” and potholes proceed to assert lives each monsoon. “There might be no justification in any way for unhealthy and unsafe roads,” the court docket mentioned, including that Mumbai, as India’s monetary capital, can not afford civic apathy when crores are collected via tolls and taxes. It identified that the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) is without doubt one of the richest firms in Asia, but “the situation of the roads continues to deteriorate each monsoon.” 

Placing the precise to pothole-free roads “on the very best pedestal of elementary rights,” the court docket held, “The proper to have roads in cheap situation is part of the basic proper assured beneath Article 21 of the Constitution of India. Good and secure roads are an integral part of such a significant life.” The Bench warned, “To refuse to award compensation and merely remind civic authorities of their duties would quantity to rendering mere lip service to the residents’ elementary proper to secure roads, a proper which has been grossly violated.” 

The order mandates that compensation should be disbursed inside six to eight weeks, failing which Municipal Commissioners, Chief Officers, District Collectors, and heads of businesses like Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC), Public Works Department (PWD), Bombay Port Trust (BPT), and National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) might be personally accountable. Delays will appeal to curiosity at 9 per cent every year from the date of declare till cost. The court docket clarified that compensation is unbiased of, and along with, treatments beneath some other legislation. It additionally directed that each one potholes, as soon as introduced to note, should be repaired inside 48 hours, warning that failure will invite departmental motion. Wide publicity of the compensation scheme and grievance redressal mechanism was ordered in order that affected households can search aid. 

Committees comprising civic chiefs and District Legal Services Authority Secretaries should convene inside seven days of any reported demise or damage and meet each 15 days throughout monsoon to observe compliance. Compensation could initially be paid from fines collected from contractors, however of their absence, civic our bodies and State businesses will bear the legal responsibility and get better the quantity from these discovered accountable. Strict disciplinary and penal motion, together with blacklisting, imposition of fines, and felony proceedings, was ordered towards contractors and officers responsible of substandard work. 

The Bench expressed anguish over recurring fatalities, largely involving two-wheeler riders from low-income teams, terming it “gross violation of residents’ proper to stay with dignity.” It warned, “Unless these liable for pothole-related deaths and accidents are made personally accountable, and are compelled to bear financial legal responsibility from their very own pockets, they won’t perceive the gravity of the difficulty.” The court docket additionally noticed that some roads in Mumbai have remained intact for many years, whereas newly constructed ones develop potholes inside days of monsoon, indicating “poor high quality of supplies and substandard workmanship.” 

Authorities should submit compliance experiences by November 21, 2025. The court docket mentioned, “This tragic state of affairs will proceed to repeat itself yearly until civic authorities are made accountable.”